Still, I hope that by tunnelling into the middle of the town, we haven’t inadvertently caused the deaths of hundreds of ultimately blameless people.
I might have to sneak back there soon to see how things are going.
For now, not venturing too far from the nest in case of the unexpected, Tiny and I continue our first sweep. The forest itself is lovely, old and lush, full of the sounds one would hope to hear in an old wood.
There is a peaceful vibe I’m quite enjoying. The place is so still compared to the Dungeon, especially since the wave hit.
Hang on a sec. I’m getting a heat reading from over near that tree!
Signalling Tiny with my antennae, I point to the tree.
His eyes brighten at the prospect of prey, and he starts scanning for it in the indicated direction. A frown almost immediately creases his face as he fails to notice anything and glances back to me with his hangbat expression.
Don’t look at me, buddy, I can’t see it either!
The tree in front of us has thick, gnarled roots curled around the base and twisting their way into the soil beneath. The thick trunk isn’t smooth, but rather covered in curls and knots, clumps of moss dappling the trunk and hanging from its boughs.
This is strange…
There is, without a doubt, a source of heat only a few metres in front of me, but all I can see is tree!
This is curious. My interest has been piqued! Why is this tree giving the vibes of a creature? I mean, I know trees are alive, but they shouldn’t be like this, right?
I gradually approach, my eyes agog at this strange mystery.
Tiny has grown bored and is sitting on his backside studying the hair dangling off his arm.
Dammit, Tiny! Where is your sense of wonder?
I’ve come close enough to the tree that my antennae are directly tapping it up and down.
I can clearly detect heat from this. Something that no other tree has shown in the forest. Just what is it about this tree?
At that moment, as my antennae are tippety-tapping on the bark, something odd happens.
The tree giggles.
Uh…
Tippety-tappety-tap.
More giggles.
Tippety-tappety. Tippety-tappety. Tippety-tappety!
As my antennae go completely crazy on the trunk, a section of wood starts to wiggle with laughter and detaches from the rest of the tree before collapsing on the ground.
Before my eyes, a strange woodish humanoid is rolling about, thin root-like fingers at the end of gnarled mossy arms attached to a thin, branch-like body.
When the… thing, notices I’m no longer tickling it with my antennae, it suddenly stops moving. Two deep green eyes stare up at me from what I can now tell is a gnarled bark face.
Tippety-tappety. Tippety-tappety. Tippety-tappety.
When I resume my antenna tapping, the creature immediately begins giggling and rolling around on the ground like a small child.
What. The. Heck. Is. This. Thing?
Next to me, Tiny has waddled over and is staring at the creature with his beady bat eyes. I can tell exactly what he’s thinking.
Can we eat this?
You know what, Tiny, I’m not sure…
12. It all Comes Back to Mana
For the time being, Tiny and I resist the temptation to try and eat this strange tree creature. After a few minutes of tickling, I back away a few steps, making it clear that tickle-time is over, and wait to see how the creature will respond.
After wiggling about on the ground for a moment, then giving me the puppy dog eyes for a little while longer, the strange branch monster stands up. Now that it’s standing on its own two feet, I can get a better look at it.
This thing is skinny. Rather than a walking tree, it resembles a stick insect. The body is more of a branch than a trunk, and four humanoid-like limbs extend organically, with little sign of joints. The monster doesn’t have a head of any kind, really. The face peeks out from the top of the torso, the wrinkles and grooves in the wood giving rise to surprisingly expressive features.
Tiny radiates disappointment after getting a closer look at the monster. I think he’s sad at how thin the monster is, it isn’t likely he’d be able to get much of a feed from it.
Blissfully ignorant of being weighed for Biomass the… Branchie? The Branchie, looks at the two of us with eyes twinkling deep in that weathered face before gesturing for us to follow and walking briskly off into the forest.
I hesitate only a moment before I decide to follow. I’ve not seen anything in this forest that is a match for Tiny and myself, we should be fairly safe. Besides, I want to learn a little more about this walking wood stick if I can. It seems relatively harmless and is the only creature other than Formo that hasn’t reacted with hostility upon seeing me.
So, I follow along with Tiny trundling in my wake. It isn’t long before we have to speed up though. The Branchie is fast! Despite being shorter than Tiny, so skinny a stiff breeze could knock it down, and not having knees, the Branchie really motors along.
Could it be the lack of air resistance?
Whatever the reason, Tiny and I have to pick up our pace. In the end, having sprinted along behind the Branchie for ten solid minutes, it finally stops at a beautiful section of forest.
A small pond in the centre sits perfectly still, ringed with spectacularly old-looking trees. The air is so still here, as if nothing has drawn breath in this spot for a hundred years.
The Branchie smiles at us, the folds and twists of the wood curving to create the expression, before walking toward one of the trees and just, blending into it. I almost can’t believe my eyes. One second the Branchie was there, and the next it was just… gone!
I can still detect it with my heat sensitive antennae though. As I wave my antennae about this section of forest, there are a few more signals from the nearby trees. Curious, I wind my way around the pond and find more than twenty responses from the trees in the area. It looks like the Branchie brought us back to its community.
It doesn’t appear as if they want to come out and greet us though. I get the feeling these are particularly shy monsters, hiding from their enemies by using their impressive tree melding skills.
There must be something special about this spot for these tree creatures to make their homes here. My attention turns back to the pond. Do I detect a faintly familiar shimmer to this water?
Out of curiosity, I flip on my Mana Sensing, and sure enough, the pond lights up with a faint response. The water is infused with Mana! Nostalgia comes flooding back as I recall the pond in the first chamber I’d entered after being reborn.
By drinking that water, I’d taken the Mana into my body and expedited the formation of my core. This water probably has similar properties and the Branchies likely formed their community here due to the Mana in this water.
Or perhaps they were formed from the trees here? The trees drinking in this water with their roots may have been what created these tree creatures in the first place.
And it all comes back to Mana. This mysterious energy that can be turned into almost anything, has a seemingly unlimited supply, and can even create life itself! I can’t help but feel the source of this energy resides somewhere deep in the Dungeon. I have no evidence for that, but it just seems right. I mean, it has to come from somewhere.
Actually…
It has to come from somewhere, right?
So how did it get into this pool?